The National Hockey League may have forsaken its fans for at least the first few months of the 2012-13 season, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of quality hockey for fans here in the state the NHL abandoned 15 years ago.

The sport didn't leave Connecticut when the NHL encouraged the Whalers to defect to North Carolina in 1997. In fact, it's grown at the lower levels in several ways.

There are American Hockey League teams in Harford and Bridgeport that serve as minor league affiliates for the NHL's Rangers and Islanders, respectively. There is also an independent minor league team in Danbury.

In addition, the college hockey presence in Connecticut is impressive. Of the 59 Division I teams in the country, four reside here with Yale and Quinnipiac playing in the powerful ECAC Conference while UConn and Sacred Heart play in the Atlantic Hockey Association. The Huskies have already accepted an invitation to join the elite Hockey East conference beginning with the 2014-15 season.

"Hockey is a cult," said Charlie Dowd, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' senior vice president of operations. "It is not like baseball, where you have a lot of casual fans. Hockey is a cult, and the fans need their fix so they are going to find somewhere to go. And when you get the casual fans to go, I think their reaction is, 'Oh, my God, I can't believe the speed, the size and the action.'

"Hockey on TV just doesn't do the same justice to the sport that seeing a game live does."

The AHL is benefitting from the NHL owners' lockout of their players in a labor dispute.

In order to keep continue the development of their young stars, NHL teams have assigned a significant number of players with two-way contracts (minor league and major league) to their AHL affiliates. Dowd said each of the 30 AHL teams probably has four to six guys who would likely be on an NHL roster.

"If you go through the rosters of each team, you would see guys that were playing in the NHL last year," Connecticut Whale coach Ken Gernander said. "They're here either because they are younger players and their NHL teams don't want them to lose a year of development, or because they were free agents who signed an AHL contract to stay sharp so when the NHL season resumes they will be ready to go."

The NHL has already cancelled all of its games through Nov. 30, a total of 326 so far. With no negotiations scheduled, the entire season could be in jeopardy.

In its absence, there are plenty of quality alternatives in great venues. Yale plays in the historic Ingalls rink while Quinnipiac plays in the new state-of-the-art TD Bank Sports Center. Bridgeport's Webster Bank Arena, where both the AHL's Sound Tigers and Sacred Heart University play, is a very good facility that just installed a new hanging scoreboard and LED ribbon boards.

"The hockey is outstanding," said Yale senior associate athletic director Wayne Dean. "College hockey is fast and skilled, and a lot of these guys you will see later in their careers in pro hockey, whether it is the AHL, the NHL or Europe. It's an exciting sport."

And it's getting better. UConn's move to Hockey East comes with a commitment to build the program with more scholarships. The program already has talent, sending two players to NHL rookie camps this summer. But now it will be able compete for more high-profile, in-state kids who in the past have gone to places like Boston College and BU.

"It is going to be pretty exciting to get into some recruiting battles on some of those high-end kids," UConn coach Bruce Marshall said. "There is definitely a great buzz. For now, our focus for the next two years is playing well enough to win the Atlantic League, but it has certainly elevated how we have to do certain things."

The Huskies played in 16 one-goal games last season and believe they have matured as a team. Yale and Quinnipiac have each won multiple league titles and made NCAA Tournament appearances.

On the professional side, the Whale and the Sound Tigers are perennial playoff teams. Bridgeport has finished first or second in its division five times in its 11 seasons while qualifying for the playoffs seven seasons. Connecticut has finished first or second in its division 12 of 15 seasons and made the playoffs 14 of 15.

"A very significant proportion of NHL players at one point played in the American Hockey League," Gernander said. "These guys are one transaction away from the NHL. There isn't another steppingstone or a few more years of development. One day, they are playing in Hartford or Bridgeport, and the next they are called up to the NHL."

Not everything is upbeat, however. In fact, the Whale's existence in Hartford is precarious due to attendance struggles in the outdated XL Center. The team averaged 4,523 fans last year.

Bridgeport doesn't attract a lot more fans, but in a smaller, newer arena and with attendance steadily growing there is a positive outlook for the franchise.

Officials associated with hockey in the state believe the NHL lockout could ultimately be beneficial both to their teams and to fans. College and minor league teams here should attract slightly larger crowds looking for their hockey fix, and the fans will discover that the level of play is competitive and exciting.

"There is a lot of hockey enthusiasm in Connecticut, and we just have to get the message out that it is a very good product and that these are very worthwhile players to be watching both from a talent standpoint and an effort standpoint," Gernander said. "It is a high caliber of hockey. Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, so if we can get people here initially, others will follow and create a really good environment."

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HS Hockey Fan wrote on Nov 1, 2012 9:52 AM:

" Don't forget about our local student-athletes! There are local High School Hockey teams in the area that are really worth watching!

They sacrifice a little more than the average student athlete with late practice times, longer rides and a physically demanding sport!

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